Where social justice & birth activism meet

Speaking

I recently had the opportunity to share what I’ve learned in my ten years as a writer and doula about the connections between stress, discrimination and maternal health in a TED talk.

I was also fortunate enough to spend time with Jennie Joseph, an incredible midwife whose prenatal care model shows just how compassionate patient-centered care can counteract the very real impacts of racism on the health of parents and children.

While I wrote this talk for a general audience, one who didn’t necessarily know anything about maternal health and race, I think it reinforces what doulas can offer if the support is framed correctly–so this may support your work and learning as well. Doulas can definitely be part of the solution, if the work is accessible to those who need it most, and offered in a non-judgmental and affirming way.

There is so much work to do, but the solutions are not as out of reach as we might believe.

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I took a little bit of a hiatus from traveling and speaking this last year or so, and it was nice to get a chance to stay grounded for a bit and focus on my life at home. But I’m heading back out on the road, and am really excited to get to connect with incredible people around the country.

I’m starting with Austin, where I’ll be speaking at the NARAL Pro-Choice Texas Fall Celebration on October 28. It’s such a challenging time in Texas (did you read about the Latina woman arrested at her gyn’s office near Houston for presenting a fake ID?), but there is also amazing grassroots organizing happening in response. I’ll be talking about how my work as a doula has influenced my social justice values, and I’ll be sharing the stage with Representative Jessica Farrar, an incredible Latina RJ advocate and leader. I had the honor of working with her back when I started out in organizing, and it’s awesome to be able to circle back to that.

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In early August I had the honor of speaking at the SQUATfest conference. It was a first of its kind gathering that brought together doulas, midwives and other birth activists interested in radical politics. It didn’t have a central theme, but I knew that it was going to be a unique space.

I gave the talk below to the attendees on the morning of the second day. I have a lot more to say about the gathering, and the topics I addressed below, which I’ll do in follow up posts. Makeda Kamara gave an absolutely earth-shattering and life-altering keynote address the following day. I don’t believe that it was recorded, but if you ever have a chance to read Makeda’s writing or see her speak, you have to do it. She has incredible wisdom about midwifery, as well as racial justice movements in the US and abroad.

The gathering was inspiring, but it was also another reminder that there is much work left to do, even within the “radical” parts of our movement, particularly around questions of racial justice and dealing with white privilege.

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The reason I started my blog, Radical Doula, in 2007, was because I couldn’t imagine a room like this one existing. I had been a doula for a few years, and as my own identity and politics developed, I looked around me and felt alone.

I felt alone as a queer and genderqueer person. I felt alone as a Cuban-American, a Latina, a child of immigrants. I felt alone as a reproductive justice activist and someone who supported access to abortion as well as access to homebirth and midwives. I felt alone as someone who approached my work as a doula as social justice activism.

I remember one of the first, possibly the very first, conversation I had with another doula who felt similarly. Christy Hall, who is here today, and I met at a reproductive justice conference, and the memory of crouching in the corner with her, infant in arms, talking about being doulas with radical politics is seared in my brain.

So very much has changed since that first conversation all those years ago. The fact that this gathering is happening at all is a major testament to that change.

Needless to say, I no longer feel alone. Instead I’m in awe of the incredible growth in the doula movement, and particularly in the movement of doulas who see their work as part of a broader social justice vision. For so many of us, this work isn’t just about improving a few select people’s experiences with pregnancy and birth–it’s about changing the systems altogether.

This is no easy task. And while the growth and expansion of the doula movement is really good news in many ways, it also presents its own unique challenges.

What I wanted to talk about today is how I see our work as birth activists as part of the broader reproductive justice movement.

For those of you who aren’t familiar, reproductive justice is a movement that was established by women of color in the reproductive rights movement who wanted a framework through which to see their organizing that better mirrored the lives of the people in their communities. It’s an intersectional framework that acknowledges the complexity of people’s lives and the many issues that affects them.

One way I describe it is building a world where everyone has what they need to create the family that they want to create.

While abortion still tends to most of the attention in this work, I think birth workers, are also perfectly suited to be part of this movement and to utilize the framework to support our own efforts.

So what does it really mean to understand our work as doulas, or midwives, or birth activists, as part of the movement for reproductive justice?

First it means we put at the center of our work those who face the most challenges.

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I’m headed to the Allied Media Conference tomorrow. It’s my first time at this gathering, and I’m really excited to finally be able to participate. From what I hear it’s a pretty incredible gathering of folks with radical politics who care about media making–and media is defined really broadly.

I’ll be part of a panel on Sunday called “Making a Living & a Life in Radical Tech” where I’ll be talking about my work as a digital communications consultant. I’ll also be tabling throughout the weekend, selling Radical Doula Guides and giving hugs to fellow doulas. I’ll be offering a special AMC sliding scale price for guides ($10-$12) so if you’ve been waiting to buy one and you’ll be at the conference, this is a good time! Come find me. 🙂

It’s really community-focused, meaning the panels are run by lots of different people, from many different professions and walks of life. It’s not just for those who are employed by non-profits that work on trans issues, although those folks are there and well represented also.

A conference where thousands of people come together to talk about the needs of trans folks, and the majority of the attendees themselves identify somewhere on the trans* spectrum!

Since I first attended four years ago, the presence of birth workers has steadily increased. So much so that last year we were able to have a panel specifically about birth work, with all trans and GNC identified birth workers speaking! Wowza, how things change.

Did I mention it’s free?

It’s next to one of my favorite indoor markets of all time: Reading Terminal Market, where you can get all sorts of super yummy food.

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Tonight is one event in a season of incredible grassroots fundraising around the country on behalf of abortion funds who raise money to help folks pay for the procedures they need when their health care won’t cover it. Just like doula care is about unconditional and nonjudgemental support for pregnant and parenting people, the work of abortion funds is also that.

Supporting abortion funds is a really easy way to directly impact one persons ability to make decisions about their life and their pregnancy. Most of these funds are volunteer run, which means the majority of every $1 donated goes directly into the hands of someone in need of a procedure. It’s a direct response to the class inequality inherent in our medical system. No one should have to carry a pregnancy to term simply because they cannot afford an abortion.

While there are many great groups fundraising, and I suggest checking out your local one, I’m making a pitch on behalf of the group in Eastern Massachusetts. Tonight is their annual fundraiser which brings in a huge amount of the money they use each year to help folks in the area get the medical care they need and cannot afford. But understandably because of what has transpired this past week in Boston, when they would have been doing a major push in their fundraising, they are still $14,000 away from reaching their fundraising goal.

I’m actually headed to Boston right now to be at the event as an honored guest, so it’s important to me to share the love with them. I’ll be presenting brief remarks, and honored to be able to bring doula work into that space.

If you’re in the area, come out! It should be a good time.

If you’re not able to attend, consider donating even a few dollars to support their work and help them meet their goal. Thanks!

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I’m heading out this week to do two speaking events, so if you’re in the Philly area, you should join!

I love any and all opportunity to talk about the activism I’m involved in, and I’m beyond pleased that doula work is gaining enough prominence that I get more and more requests to come speak about it.

On Wednesday I’ll be speaking at the University of Pennsylvania, hosted by groups primarily in the Nursing School. Major thanks to Ryan Pryor who organized the event! I’ll be talking about doulas, reproductive justice and community-based interventions to health care. I’m jazzed to be speaking to future health care professionals–a group that has the power to really change our health care system.

Details:

Radical Doulas & Reproductive Justice: Community-based health

Miriam Zoila Perez will talk about her work as a full-spectrum doula, writer and activist. There is a growing movement of doulas working to improve pregnant people’s health care experiences through one-on-one emotional, physical and informational suport. How are doulas changing health care experiences? How can providers collaborate with doulas? Miriam will discuss this important and growing movement, and it’s many connections to health care activist work.

In the evening there will also be a get together, for those who can’t make the event and folks who want to talk more. Details: New Deck Tavern on 34th and Sansom (3408 Sansom St Philadelphia, PA 19104), 7:30-9:30pm

The Radical Doula Guide

About the Author

Miriam Zoila Pérez is a writer and reproductive justice activist. Pérez is currently a columnist at Colorlines, and was also an Editor at Feministing for four years. She trained as a birth doula in 2004 and a full-spectrum doula in 2010.